Fuji Syuusuke's US Open
by Yandeim Nareim
Summary: As the title says. More detailed summary inside. NO SLASH/SHOUNEN-AI! Please R&R!
1. The Invitation

_**Fuji Syuusuke's US Open**_

Summary: Fuji gets an invitation to the US Open Qualifiers! Will he make it through the qualifiers and into the Open? If so, how far will he make it? Well, with help from his friends, he's got good chances! Here is the story about Fuji's journey to the US, and his experience in the Qualifiers and, possibly, the US Open!

A/N: This is set with Fuji at age 19 and in 2008 (I know it doesn't match with the timeline in the manga/anime, but I hope no one gets angry about that). Also, I hate how a ton of PoT fanfiction authors make Fuji gay, so I'm going to have Fuji have a few girlfriends throughout the story. Also, I'm sorry about the short chapter, but it's just a prologue, and the remaining chapters will be longer. R&R, please! Okay, onto the story…

Fuji walked outside of his house and headed toward the mailbox. He was the only one home at the moment, for his brother was out with some of his friends, and his parents and sister were all at work. He opened the mailbox, and pulled out a thick stack of mail. As he walked back inside, he flipped through all of the different envelopes.

He set all the bills and mail for his sister on the table as he headed upstairs to his room. He had a few envelopes himself, but not many. He assumed before looking at them that they were the usual letters he was getting recently, which were letters from universities offering him tennis scholarships. He hadn't decided where he wanted to go for college yet, so he just put the ones he was getting in a large stack to search through once he narrowed down his choices.

He had had an excellent high school tennis career. He had upgraded his six counters through the four years, and created a new serve similar to his disappearing serve. Many college scouts had been to the championship that his high school attended in his second year, where he defeated the 5th nationally ranked senior of the opposing school.

But, as he discarded all of the letters into the stack, one of the letters caught his eye. It was a yellow, red, and blue heading, which is probably why it caught his eye. He picked it up, and automatically recognized the heading as the flaming tennis ball with the red line showing a path that always accompanied the US Open, which was obvious with the blue lettering 'US Open' in the middle. He wondered why he'd gotten a letter from the heads of one of the four Grand Slam Tennis Events.

He turned the envelope over and ripped through the enclosing, pulling out a folded letter. He opened it and read what it said.

Dear Syuusuke Fuji,

The US Open Qualifiers are occurring this year on July 25th through July 29th, one month before the US Open. Annually, eight qualifying players are invited to participate in the US Open Qualifiers to attempt to advance on to the US Open. Each of the eight players are drawn into a bracket to play throughout the five days. If a player is to win all the matches in the bracket, he or she will advance to participate in the US Open this year.

You have been selected as one of the eight players to participate in this year's US Open Qualifying Matches. If you wish to participate, please send your reply by April 1st, 2008.

Sincerely,

Jane Brown Grimes, United States Tennis Association President

Fuji stood shocked, letter in hand. He never dreamed to participate in a Grand Slam Event, especially not at only 19. Yet, he shouldn't be surprised. Many tennis players were entering at young ages, like Novak Djokavic, who entered professional tennis at the age of 16.

He was also surprised how early the letter had arrived. It was early February, and the US Open did not begin until August 25th. Yet, he could understand considering that they needed to make preparations and that Tokyo was so far away from New York.

He decided to wait and ask his parents and friends about what they thought he should do. And he almost immediately got the phone and dialed the number of someone who he thought could help him with this decision…


	2. The Reunion

A/N: Don't worry jv, he's not going to be a player. I just meant that throughout the story, he will have a few girlfriends. Not multiple ones at the same time. And thanks everyone for the reviews. Also, another thing that I forgot to mention in the last chapter is that this story is following up off the manga, not the anime, so Ryoma has not been to the US Open. So, onto chapter number two…

_**Chapter 2**_

At the Echizen household, Echizen Ryoma, now sixteen years old, sat bored on the couch in the living room. His dad had mumbled something about the temple and grabbed a magazine before leaving the house. His mom was cooking something in the kitchen, and his aunt was back at college for a while.

Karupin jumped up on the couch, and crawled into Ryoma's lap, nestling himself comfortable against Ryoma's stomach and purring as Ryoma petted him. Just as some stupid commercial started on the television, the phone rang loudly. The noise scared Karupin, who quickly jumped off the couch and ran into the kitchen. Ryoma picked up the phone next to the couch.

"Yo," he greeted whoever was on the other end.

"Echizen?" a voice asked on the other end. It was a voice that Ryoma had not heard in a few months, but was easily recognized as his former tennis teammate, the genius, Fuji Syuusuke.

"Ah, Fuji-senpai," Ryoma replied.

"Echizen, I need you to meet me at the new tennis courts near Seigaku," Fuji replied. Seigaku, Seishun Gakuen in full, was their old middle school. There were tennis courts built near there a year ago.

"Why?" Ryoma questioned.

"I'll explain there. Can you make it?" Fuji asked.

"Yeah," Ryoma replied simply.

"Okay. Cool," Fuji replied, hanging up.

After finishing his conversation with Ryoma, Fuji continued on to call the rest of hid old teammates from Seigaku, also asking them to meet him at the tennis courts. After he was finished calling everyone, he put on a jacket and headed over there himself.

About twenty minutes later, Ryoma, the last to arrive as predicted, finally showed up. Most of them looked the same. Ryoma was about a foot taller, but that was the only difference among them. Obviously, they had all aged four years, but for the most part they looked the same.

"So, why are we all here?" Ryoma asked lazily, leaning up against the fence.

They all laughed. Fuji grinned. He had missed them all, and Ryoma's lazy cockiness was something that he'd never forget. They all went to different high schools, except for Oishi and Tezuka, but every now and then, they'd call each other up for a match, so they hadn't completely lost each other.

"Well, recently…" Fuji started. He wasn't exactly sure how to give everyone the good news. "Actually, today, I got a letter from the USTA. Apparently, I've been invited to the US Open Qualifier Round," he said simply.

Everyone seemed to erupt with applause and excitement and started flooding Fuji with questions, especially Eiji. Ryoma just sort of shrugged, but Fuji could see him smiling under the bill of his hat. Kaidoh just gave his snake hiss sound, but he was also grinning. Even Tezuka smiled. Fuji was quite happy. He didn't remember seeing all of them this happy since they won the nationals.

"So are you going? Who are you playing first? When is it? Are you gonna win?" Eiji hit Fuji with about a billion questions a second.

"Umm, I'm actually not sure if I'm going. I haven't even asked my parents yet. I mean, it's a trip all the way to America and I'm not even twenty yet. But, if I am going…I'd like whoever can to come with me. I want some people to help with training and stuff, and who better than my own teammates?"

"Wow! Cool! Go to America?! Man, that's going to be awesome!" Eiji exclaimed.

"But I'm sure you all will have to ask as well, so how about the same place and same time in about a week?" Fuji asked.

"Sure," they all said.

When Fuji returned home, his parents and sister were already there. They greeted him and he returned the greeting with a smile. He decided to wait until dinner to ask them if he could attend the US Open Qualifiers.

About two hours later, Yuuta returned, and they started eating dinner. Fuji took a deep breath in, and then let it out. He had to ask them sooner or later, and it would be better to do it as soon as possible.

"Hey, mom, dad…I got something in the mail today," he said before biting into a piece of fruit.

"What was it Syuusuke? Another tennis scholarship?" his sister, Yumiko, asked.

"Umm, well I got a few of those. It was actually an…I got an invitation to the US Open Qualifying Round. I wasn't sure if you would let me go…" Fuji trailed off, letting it be its own question.

The table got unusually silent and Fuji felt a little awkward. He threw in his signature grin just in case it could help. He saw a bright smile on his brother's face, and a grin creeping onto his sister's face, but the ones that actually counted were his parents, and they still had shocked looks on their faces. He wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not yet.

"Syuusuke, that's wonderful!" his sister said excitedly. She then also looked to their parents, wondering the same thing that Fuji was wondering.

"Umm…" Fuji's father started. "We'll have to see…we need to know things like the cost of transportation, nights at hotels, things like that," Fuji's father said.

His expression was solid, but Fuji somehow knew that he was excited inside. His mother was smiling kindly, and Fuji returned the smile. He was happy that they would at least consider it.

"So, you think you'll get far, bro?" Yuuta asked, seemingly automatically thinking that Syuusuke was allowed to go.

"I don't know. The pros in the world are just so amazing these days…"

"Come on, don't be modest. You'll be the champion easy!" Yuuta said, smiling.

Syuusuke laughed. He was happy that his brother was happy for him, instead of being mad at him like he would've been four or five years ago.

That night, Fuji lay in bed, thinking about what would happen if he went. He wondered how far he would get, what people would be like in America, and all sorts of other stuff. Before turning over and falling asleep, he made a mental note to ask Ryoma about the big cultural differences so that he wouldn't look like an idiot while he was there. He already was pretty good at speaking English, having taken English all through high school, so that wouldn't be much of a problem.


	3. The Flashback

A/N: Yeah, I know he's a little out of character at times, but it's sometimes hard to get Fuji right in character, since he's a really complex character, except in certain situations (going to the US Open isn't one, lol). Also, things are a lot more formal in Japan, so I'd assume that Fuji would still try to get permission from his parents even if he's 19. And no, Ryoma and Tezuka didn't get the letter, this story's about Fuji. Hope you still like it. Once again, thanks for all the reviews. Now, on to chapter 3.

_**Chapter 3**_

The next day, over breakfast, Fuji was quiet. He was wondering if he should bring up the subject from last night or not. He decided not to, and to let his parents address it when they wanted to. For the time being, he was just quiet, eating his breakfast. Randomly, a memory of one of his high school matches popped into his head…

_Flashback_

Fuji was tired beyond belief, and sweat was dripping from his face. He looked at his opponent, a tall, black-haired man. His name was Suta Yaishi. He seemed to be completely unaffected by the long match, and he always had an evil glare in his eyes. Fuji knew from the beginning, when he had spit at Fuji, that this guy was not a good sport at all, and the evil glare in his eye only showed it more.

Fuji took a deep breath in and let it out, and then wiped from sweat from his forehead and got ready for the tiebreaker. He decided to finally give his new Disappearing Serve a try. He had worked on it for a month or two, but hadn't tried it during a match yet.

He threw the ball in the air, putting a spin on it with a twist of his wrist. He then hit it with his racket, putting even more of a side spin on it. It flew to the other side of the court, seemingly heading out. In then curved back in, hitting the line. Suta got ready to hit it, but then the ball reacted to its wicked sidespin and shot the other direction, leaving Suta's field of vision and seemingly disappearing.

The cruel look on his face was instantly replaced with a look of shock, which made Fuji grin. It was then Suta's turn to serve. He hit an extremely fast serve in the corner with the first serve, earning an ace. The second one was similar, but Fuji was able to return it. Suta then hit a bullet to the opposite side. It flew by with Fuji being unable to even touch it.

Fuji remained calm as he threw up his serve, using the same serve as before. It once again aced Suta, and tied the score two each. Fuji hit the serve again, except it seemed that Suta had figured it out as he took a step toward the ball and stretched out, returning it. He then immediately bolted back to the center, ready for the next hit. Fuji hit a drop shot to the right. Suta bolted toward it with incredible speed, hitting a lob.

Fuji leapt in the air and slammed it. Suta grinned and spun on one of his left foot, extending his arm and negating the smash with Higuma Otoshi. Fuji was shocked as the ball hit the line behind him. He had no idea that Suta could use it as well. Suta grinned cruelly as he got ready to serve. It was an easy point, another ace. That made the score four to two, with Suta in the lead. Fuji headed to his coach before heading to the other side of the court.

"He's incredibly fast, and has great stamina. He can not be beaten by simple means of hitting it in harder places on the court. You'll have to try to trick him. You could also try to-"

"Tell your idiotic coach to shut up so I can finish beating you," Suta said as he walked behind Fuji to the base line.

"I'll be alright," Fuji muttered to his coach as he went to the receiving spot.

He had always respected his coach, considering he was one of the best coaches in the region at the time, and he didn't appreciate Suta talking about his coach like that.

_I'm going to make him pay for underestimating my coach and me! _

Fuji awaited the serve with anticipation. He concentrated, and as it hit the ground, he swung powerfully. It was very similar to the Rising Shot, which he had asked his brother to explain it to him, and he had gotten pretty close to mastering it.

Suta immediately hit it back, and Fuji hit another drop shot. Suta returned it yet again with a lob. Fuji jumped in the air, ready to smash it. He saw a smug look on Suta's face as he got ready to his the Higuma Otoshi. Fuji smashed it close to the net, and Suta tried to hit the Higuma Otoshi, except he was off target, and the ball went way out.

Fuji grinned. He thanked Ryoma in his mind for showing him how to break the Higuma Otoshi a long time ago by breaking it when Fuji was using it.

_You just simply have to hit a cord ball._

Fuji then served it, using a regular serve. Suta hit it back at him, and Fuji hit a deep and low groundstroke to the corner. Suta was barely able to hit it, and it was a lob again. Fuji leapt in the air again.

"It was just a fluke last time!" Suta shouted at him.

Fuji grinned, and smashed the ball, hitting the top of the net slightly, and changing the course of the smash, making Suta's Higuma Otoshi go out yet again.

_End Flashback_

Fuji had won the rest of the points in the tiebreaker, and therefore winning the match. The rest of the school's players also won, and the match led them to the final four in the national tournament.

"Syuusuke?" his father asked.

"Oh, sorry. What were you saying?" he asked.

"We asked if you were still planning on going to college even if you went to the US Open." Fuji's father repeated.

"Yes," Fuji replied simply, though the question gave him hope.

"Okay. Then I guess there's no reason for you not to go," he replied, smiling.

Fuji nodded happily. He was excited, but he didn't really show it. He knew his family would know that he was.

A/N: Yeah, I know, still a lot of OC, but hopefully he'll be more like Fuji throughout the story. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter.


	4. The Big News

A/N: Thank you, Reviewer. I'm glad that I'm keeping Fuji in character, because it really is difficult to do so sometimes. Also, the first server gets one serve, and then it goes to two each player from then on. Once again thank you everyone for the reviews. Also, I decided to put dividers in between time periods to distinguish a bit better. Now, onto the fourth chapter.

_**Chapter 4**_

After Fuji's father made the announcement, everyone at the table started talking about Fuji's opponents and his chances. They talked about who they thought would be his toughest opponents, and how he might be able to defeat them. He mentioned how he might not be able to even make it through the qualifiers, but they all laughed at that, obviously not believing him.

After breakfast, Fuji went upstairs to his room and began wondering about what the US Open would be like. He was filled with excitement and anticipation, but it didn't even start for another five months. He wondered when he would be going to America. He also wondered if he would get to play against his favorite player, Lleyton Hewitt.

He was glad that out of all the Grand Slams he would be invited to, it was the US Open, one of the two hard court Slams. He was used to hard court, and had rarely ever played on any other type of court. Then, something entered his mind that he hadn't thought about. He would have to work on his stamina a lot in the five months until the Open, because he had only ever played one set matches, and in a Grand Slam, the _least _amount of sets possible to play would be three, unless there was a forfeit.

So he decided to ask Kikumaru to help him with stamina, considering that Kikumaru had gained so much stamina before the nationals so suddenly. Fuji just hoped that he would be able to raise his stamina that much as well, especially since he had naturally more stamina than Kikumaru to begin with.

He also reminded himself to ask Ryoma about the cultural differences in America. He still had another five days until he met up with the rest of the team to see who could and couldn't go. He decided that while they were there at the tennis courts, they could play a few quick matches. He wanted to play against Tezuka and Ryoma. He wanted to know if he was good enough to defeat them, and if not, he would have to practice not only his stamina, but also advancing his techniques even more. But he would probably do that whether he beat them or lost to them.

-------------------------------------

"When am I going to America?" Fuji asked at lunch the next day.

"I don't know. We haven't bought the plane tickets yet. When do you want to go?" Fuji's father asked.

"I was thinking about two weeks before the Open, so that we can get used to the surroundings and find a good apartment or hotel, whichever we're going to be staying at," Fuji replied.

"Umm, actually," his mother started. "Your father and I won't be able to go with you. We weren't able to get off work," she said with a frown on her face.

"Neither will I," his sister said. "I've got a conference in Hiroshima that month. I might be able to make it to the finals though."

"I probably won't make it to the finals," Fuji replied. He tried to hide his disappointment that his parents and sister weren't attending.

"Don't get down on yourself like that," Fuji's mother said. "Yuuta can go though. We'll call you both daily so don't worry. We'll be with you in spirit," she said with a smile on her face.

"Okay," Fuji replied, though still a little disappointed.

"So are we staying in an apartment or a hotel?" Yuuta asked.

"Well, you'll only be there for a little over a month, so it would probably be better to stay in a hotel," their father explained.

They spent the rest of lunch discussing plans about where they would stay, when they would head to America, and other things that they would need to know before leaving. It was still hard to believe for Fuji that they actually wouldn't be leaving for another four months.

---------------------------

They met up at the tennis courts on Friday after Momoshiro, Kaidoh, and Ryoma were done with school.

"Well, Yuuta and I are going to America! I'm participating in the US Open!" Fuji exclaimed.

"YES! AWESOME!" Kikumaru instantly replied, jumping in excitement.

"So, who else is allowed to go?"

"I AM! THIS IS GONNA BE SO COOL! YOU'RE GONNA GO ALL THE WAY! AND WE'LL BE WITH YOU THE WHOLE TIME! IT'LL BE JUST LIKE OLD TIMES!!!" Kikumaru exclaimed. He seemed even more excited than Fuji.

"I can go," Inui said flatly.

"Yup," Ryoma said simply, though Fuji knew that he meant he could go.

"I'll be there," Tezuka said.

"I can go with you, too, Fuji," Oishi said cheerily.

"Yes," Kaidoh said, just as simply as Ryoma, though, Fuji understood that it meant the same thing as it did with Ryoma.

"I'll be there with ya all the way, Fuji!" Momoshiro exclaimed.

"Heh, I guess I can go," Takashi said shyly.

Fuji laughed. He was always amazed at how different Takashi was when he didn't have a racket in his hand.

"That's great!" Fuji said. "So, I thought while we were here we could have some matches," Fuji explained.

Everyone started breaking into pairs to play against each other.

"Hey, Echizen, could you play a match with me?" Fuji asked.

"Sure, but don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're going to be in the US Open," Ryoma replied, grabbing a racket.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Fuji replied grinning.

They stepped onto the court, and Fuji pocketed one tennis ball and held the other in his hand.

"Which?" Ryoma asked.

"Smooth," Fuji replied.

The racket spun for a while, and then landed upside down.

"It's rough. I'll take serve," Ryoma said.

Fuji gave him the two tennis balls, and walked back to the baseline and readied himself for the serve. Ryoma had the racket in his right hand, so Fuji figured he was going to use the Twist Serve. He got ready.

Ryoma threw it in the air and bent his knees, twisting himself so that his back was facing the net, and then jumped up, straightening himself and hitting the ball with a swipe of his racket. The ball soared over the net and sank and then spun on the ground wildly, shooting straight toward Fuji's nose with incredible speed. Ryoma's twist had gotten much faster and sharper, and Fuji was barely able to dodge it in time.

"Wow, you've gotten better," Fuji said.

"Or you've gotten worse," Ryoma said, grinning as he readied himself for the next serve.


	5. The Triple Counters

Fuji watched carefully as Ryoma tossed the ball, and then he saw why the Twist Serve was so sharp. Ryoma took a step forward, letting the ball fall to the height of his mid back behind him before connecting his racket with it there and carrying it on his racket with a full swing, adding a tremendous amount of spin on it. The spin was so fierce that it helped the ball cut through the air faster, and also bounce even more irregularly when it reached Fuji's side.

Fuji backed up a few steps and held his racket high, barely connecting with the ball and returning it into Ryoma's court.

"Nice return," Ryoma said with a grin as he tossed his racket into his left hand and took a fierce swing.

The ball came at Fuji with great speed and power, surprising Fuji. He wasn't used to Ryoma being a power player. But he had faced many power players before, so he quickly recomposed himself, watching as the ball came toward his backhand. He pivoted on his left foot and took a full 360 degree spin and hit it fiercely with a lot of topspin. The strange shot caught Ryoma off guard, and he had to dive at the ball to connect with it, resulting in a lob.

Fuji leapt in the air, slamming the ball fiercely in the left corner. Ryoma got back up and dusted himself off. He walked back to the service line, grabbing the tennis ball out of his pocket. He threw it up, and slammed at it with his left hand. Fuji hit it, but the ball felt weird on his racket, nearly numbing his hand. The serve was an extremely powerfully hit ball, and it was really heavy when Fuji hit it back, making it a very weak return.

_He's so much more powerful than last time I played him. He really has grown as a tennis player. Well, I guess I'll have to start with my triple counters already…_

Ryoma hit it back powerfully, and Fuji saw it sink with top spin and grinned. He pulled back his right hand, letting the strong top spin shot travel to behind his body before hitting it with a strong slice. It headed toward the net and connected with it in about the center. He heard a chuckle from Ryoma, but that was before the ball traveled up the net, turning over the tape and traveling down the net and rolling forward without a bounce after hitting the ground on Ryoma's side. Fuji grinned at the shocked look on Ryoma's face.

Fuji knew that he was only able to perform such a strong form of Tsubame Gaeshi because Ryoma had hit it with an outstandingly excessive amount of top spin, but Ryoma didn't know that. With just a regular top spin shot, it was just a little stronger and faster than his Houou Gaeshi, which he now called Iguru Gaeshi, or Eagle Return.

But as usual, Ryoma was cocky and didn't hold his shocked look for longer than a few seconds. It soon turned back into a grin again.

"Heh, so you've made your triple counters stronger? Well, then show them to me!"

Ryoma gave a strong serve again, and Fuji hit a standard return. Then Ryoma hit a deep and precise hit right at Fuji's feet, causing his return to be an awkward lob. Ryoma grinned, and looked anxious as he leapt in the air and smashed as hard as he could, wanting to see how Fuji's Kirin Otoshi had become stronger.

Fuji spun two full circles and sliced at the ball less than half a foot away from the ground, right where it was at it's weakest due to the gathering air resistance as it traveled toward the ground. He used the full face of the racket on the slice, giving it as much backspin as possible. It flew extremely high in the air, out of Ryoma's vision. It then bolted to the ground with great speed, much like Fuji's Hoshi Hanabi, hitting directly on the outside of the baseline, barely catching the line.. When it hit the ground it bounced back toward Fuji, but only a little and low to the ground, settling on the ground long before it reached the service line.

"Enjin Otoshi," Fuji said as the ball bounced lightly, translating into Ape Drop.

"Enjin Otoshi, huh? Well, keep it coming!" Ryoma demanded, excitement flashing in his eyes.

Ryoma hit another serve, bolting to the net immediately, baiting Fuji for his updated version of Hakuryu. Fuji decided he would oblige to the bait, and felt the wind, observing its direction and strength carefully in his mind, and then adjusting the amount of slice on the ball with the wind strength. It bolted straight toward Ryoma, not showing any hints of deviation from the path.

Ryoma thought that Fuji decided not to hit the Hakuryu, so he hit the ball with a volley. But when the ball connected with the racket, the backspin kicked in, and the ball, instead of following the path that it should have, bolted straight up in the air off the racket, and landing directly behind Ryoma.

"You aren't allowed to hit the ball twice," Fuji said with a grin. "Hakutenshi," Fuji called it, translating into White Angel.

"Wow, you have gotten better," Ryoma said, seemingly dropping his arrogant attitude. "But I'm waiting for the other two upgraded version before I break these simple counters," Ryoma said with his trademark cocky grin.

"If you insist. By they way, you haven't called out the score," Fuji replied, grinning as he waited at the baseline for Ryoma's serve.

"Fine. Fifteen, forty," Ryoma called as he threw the ball in the air and hit it with his strong left-handed serve.

"Sorry to disappoint, but Kagero Zutsumi is still the same," Fuji explained as he returned the serve. "But, get ready for Cyclopean Kakuheki," Fuji said, translating into Cyclopean Wall, referring to the Greeks' name for the massive and thick stone walls that they believed could only be built by Cyclopes...


	6. The Cyclopean Wall

_**Chapter 6**_

Ryoma returned the hit, listening to Fuji's explanation that the Dragonfly Illusion was not coming, but instead the upgraded version of the Gatekeeper of Hecatonchires. He waited anxiously as the ball hit on Fuji's side and Fuji advanced on it. He watched as the ball met with Fuji's racket on the lowest point on the face of the racket. Fuji used the full face of the racket for the slice, flipping it as it rolled up the racket and using the full face of the racket on the other side. Then, as if the ball was magnetically attracted to the racket, it continued rolling as Fuji flipped his racket yet again, and finally pushed forward after giving it a full face slice three times.

It had a strange but readable path as it headed toward Ryoma. Ryoma hit it with a strong shot, but the ball sank extremely quickly, hitting the ground before it even reached the net. Ryoma looked at the ball rolling toward the net.

"Wow," was all he could say.

Fuji grinned as they switched sides, Ryoma giving Fuji two of the tennis balls, on of which Fuji pocketed, the other he held in his hand as he headed towards the baseline, ready to serve. He decided to go ahead and use the upgraded disappearing serve. Fuji threw it up in the air, flicking his wrist to put spin on it, and then hit it with a sidespin. It reacted just like it always did when he used the serve, heading towards going out, and then curving in. Then as it hit the ground right on the line, it bolted the other way. Ryoma quickly threw his racket to his right hand and leapt to retrieve the ball, using his agility to turn his body and put some topspin on it despite the desperation of the shot.

But, right when it sank past the net, he regretted it as he saw Fuji in the stance for Iguru Gaeshi. The ball flew past the net, sinking almost immediately after it past the net, and then rolling without a bounce.

_So it isn't always as strong as it was last time. Well, that makes sense, since I hit it with a huge amount of topspin. Of course, no ball is completely nonreturnable. _Ryoma thought as he returning to the position behind the service line, waiting for Fuji's serve.

Fuji stepped behind the baseline, throwing the ball in the air with a flick of his wrist, and hitting the Disappearing Serve again. Ryoma rushed the serve, hitting it immediately after the bounce with a Rising Shot, not allowing it to take its strong path outside of the court.

Fuji hit it back with Cyclopean Kakuheki, making it impossible for Ryoma to return over the net. This path continued on for a while, as Ryoma continued to try to put enough counter spin on it.

"Zero to four, love all, first serve," Ryoma called as he threw the ball up in the air, and hit it with his strong serve.

Fuji returned it yet again with Cyclopean Kakuheki, and Ryoma focused as he put an extremely fast and sharp slice on it to try to put enough counter spin on it. And, finally, it worked. It sailed toward the net, tipping the top of the net and traveling to Fuji's side of the court. But, it wasn't good enough, for even Ryoma knew that Fuji had created a counter for cord balls.

Fuji rushed the cord ball, hitting it with a strange spin, and it flew extremely high in the air, and then crashed down with extreme speed on the back of the baseline, barely catching the line, and then it bounced to the side.

Ryoma stayed calm as he returned to behind the baseline, getting another tennis ball.

"Love fifteen," he called as he threw the ball in the air.

_So if I hit a cord ball, he'll just dominate me wit__h Hoshi Hanabi. So, in order to win the point despite the Cyclopean Kakuheki, I have to give it even more counter spin, and then the move will be reversed against him and it will sink just past the net instead of a cord ball, making it a hard shot to return. Plus, if it's that close to the net, he would have to hit the net in order to hit his Iguru Gaeshi, making it my point. So it would be perfect to hit it like that, because it would make his Cyclopean Kakuheki a suicide move, and then I wouldn't even have to worry about it anymore. But that is an extreme amount of counter spin, and I can't slice it like Fuji can. This is going to be difficult._

Ryoma breathed out carefully, calming himself. He threw the ball in the air, and hit the high power serve like he usually did, and then waited at the baseline for the strong slice. He watched it carefully as it came to him, analyzing everything in his head. He then gripped his racket tightly, and watched the ball, getting ready to slice it.

Time seemed to slow down for him as he started his racket downward as the ball came toward him. The ball met his racket right at the bottom of his face, almost meeting the frame. Ryoma pushed it forward with power as he also moved his racket downward with a slice. It left the top of the face of the racket with speed, rocketing toward the net. Ryoma saw it start to sink, and hoped it would make it in time.

His hopes came true as it passed the net, sinking immediately. Fuji looked quite surprised, his eyes opened unusually wide, without being able to reach the ball in time. Ryoma had finally broken Cyclopean Kakuheki, and it hadn't even been very long. Fuji was shocked, but tried not to let it show. He had to bottle it up if he wanted it not to affect his ability to play well.

It was just then when the two players noticed that all the other former Seigaku regulars were basically glued to the fence, watching the match intensely. Fuji then turned his gaze to Ryoma, who had his regular cocky grin on his face, and a glimmer in his eyes that reminded Fuji of their match long ago, when Ryoma was just a first year in middle school, and when he first broke Higuma Otoshi. This brought out the fighting spirit in Fuji, in the form of enjoyment.

"Don't get so confident just yet Ryoma. Just because you broke Cyclopean Kakuheki doesn't mean you've beaten me just yet," he said, grinning.

"Just keep telling yourself that," Ryoma replied, also grinning as he threw the ball up in the air.


	7. Fuji vs Ryoma: The Conclusion

_**Chapter 7: Fuji vs. Ryoma: The Conclusion**_

Ryoma hit his serve the Fuji was starting to get used to. Fuji thought about using Cyclopean Kakuheki one more time, to see if Ryoma's return was a fluke, but he knew not to. He had come to learn that nothing is a fluke with Ryoma.

He returned the serve to the opposite corner of Ryoma, who got there quickly with the one-footed split step, and returned it to Fuji's feet. But Fuji had observed Ryoma's form, and knew it was coming so he took a few steps back and hit it with a strong backhand. Ryoma returned it again, this time to the corner. Fuji got there and hit a well-executed drop shot.

But, once again, Ryoma was able to catch up quite easily with his one-footed split step. Fuji knew that he couldn't beat Ryoma in a precision battle, so he needed to start trying something else. For a while, he continued the rally, trying to think of something. Then, he tried something that he very rarely tried.

He hit the ball with a forehand, following through and dashing forward to the net immediately after the ball left his racket. He had decided to try a poach. But Ryoma was prepared, or so he thought. He hit a great top spin lob that was heading straight toward the baseline. Fuji turned on his heel and dashed toward the back of the court, and he was fast enough. He skidded to a halt behind the baseline and prepared for Iguru Gaeshi.

_Shoot, I didn't think about that! _Ryoma panicked.

Ryoma came rushing toward the net, but Fuji grinned. At the last second, he changed his form and hit an extremely precise crossing shot that bolted past Ryoma and hit the corner.

"You see, the Triple Counters aren't my only weapons," Fuji said grinning as Ryoma walked back to the line.

"Well, then, I guess it's my turn," Ryoma replied, switching to his right hand.

He bounced the ball a few times against the ground, and then threw it up in the air, hitting his Twist Serve. He then quickly switched back to his left. Fuji returned it, and Ryoma rushed up on the ball, slicing it into a drop shot. Fuji got to it in time, hitting a slight lob to make sure it didn't run into the net before crossing the plane.

But he immediately regretted that as he saw Ryoma in the air, grinning.

_Shoot, Samurai Drive! _It was Fuji's turn to panic.

Ryoma hit the powerful shot straight at the rope, and it split in half, both halves of the tennis ball flying wildly in no straight path. Fuji was unable to return either of them. Samurai Drive had gotten even better, for Fuji noticed that Ryoma put a spin on it at the same time as all the power behind it and forced it to take insanely wild paths after splitting in half.

"I hope we have plenty of tennis balls, because I'll ruin plenty today," Ryoma said grinning.

And his statement was completely true. After Ryoma tied it at five games all (Fuji had won one game by forcing Ryoma back and using something similar to Ibu's Spot to keep Ryoma off guard and preventing him from using Samurai Drive), they had already exhausted five cans of balls, and they were now resting on the benches, waiting for Inui to return with two fresh new cans, since they currently had none.

_He really has grown amazing. I was able to fight him off one game, but he easily got through that and continued to use his Samurai Drive. There's got to be some way to prevent him from using it. He never hits it from the ground…he's using the downward force from his jump to give it more power! But he's gotten extremely good at forcing me to hit lobs, and I can't use Enjin Otoshi to return it, because it only works on a perfect sphere, and even if it didn't, it takes too much time, and there's no way I'd be able to return both. So there's no way I can return Samurai Drive. That means I have to find some way of preventing Ryoma fro__m using it in the first place. B__ut how can I do that?__ It seems easy. Don't hit a lob! But he's making it impossible not to hit a lob. Maybe I can through off the direction of his Samurai Drive so that it doesn't hit the cord, but instead misses it, which means it would go out! That's it!_

_I just need to hit it with a different, unpredictable spin every time, and that way he can't put the spin on it that he usually does, and it won't go in the right course, so it won't hit the cord!_

Inui returned with the new tennis balls, and Ryoma pocketed one and bounced the other on the ground with his racket as he walked back to the baseline. He hit his power serve instead of his Twist Serve this time, and Fuji returned it like normal. Ryoma hit it straight at Fuji's feet, and Fuji faked being forced into a lob, when really he lobbed it on purpose, jerking his wrist to the side and putting a sidespin on it along with the lob.

Ryoma tried the Samurai Drive, but was shocked when it veered off course and bounced off the top of the net as a cord ball, and Fuji returned it with Hoshi Hanabi, winning the point. Ryoma calmed himself down, and hit another power serve. The point played out the same, but when Fuji lobbed it he hit it with topspin this time. Ryoma wasn't able to adapt correctly, and it went higher than usual, missing the cord and hitting the ground out of bounds.

Fuji was gaining an edge, and continued to hit various different spins at various different amounts to throw off Ryoma's Samurai Drive. After Fuji broke Ryoma's service game, putting him ahead at six-five and giving Fuji only one more game to win, Ryoma knew that Fuji had indeed broken the Samurai Drive, and abandoned it.

He tried Drive A, B, C, and D as well, but those were no match for Fuji. So, after Fuji went ahead thirty-love, it turned into a precision and speed battle. Back and forth the ball went, drawing out the rallies.

"Forty-thirty," Fuji called out from the baseline after three more points.

He noticed that he was sweating profusely, and his hair was hanging down, hiding his eyes. Ryoma's was the same. They were both exhausted, but neither of them gave in. Fuji served the ball, and Ryoma returned it. With ever hit, the other had to dash across the court to get to it. With every topspin, slice, and sidespin, there was a counter spin returned to keep the ball in play. Both of them were giving the point their all, and even though both of them were past their physical limits and exhaustion points, both somehow were still able to keep going at full speed, playing at the peak of their abilities.

The rally seemed to drag on in an eternity, but, after fifteen minutes that seemed for the two players like fifteen years, Fuji dived for the ball, barely hitting it with the frame by accident, giving it a completely weird and unpredictable spin that curved around Ryoma, hit the baseline, and spun in place. Fuji had won the match. Ryoma was shocked, but still grinned. Fuji definitely deserved to be at the US Open, and Ryoma was sure that he had a good shot at the championship.


	8. The Request

_**Chapter 8: The Request**_

Fuji was still lying on the ground, exhausted and dazed, and a little confused about how he had won. He had gotten lucky. His desperation shot just so happened to have some strange spin. It must have caught both the frame and the racket strings, and in the swing the frame must have put the strange spin on it. Fuji knew that he wouldn't get so lucky at the US Open, so he definitely needed to practice a lot before he went to America.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he noticed Ryoma standing over him, his hand outstretched. Fuji grinned and grabbed it, getting up with Ryoma's help. His knees felt a little tired, but he could still stand.

"Good job," Ryoma said simply as he shook Fuji's hand.

"Well, I only won out of luck. Great game," Fuji replied, going back to his usual modesty now that the match was over and his fighting spirit was gone again. Ryoma just laughed.

Fuji's ears seemed to focus back on his overall surroundings, and he noticed that the others were yelling and cheering. Fuji grinned again as he walked back to the outside of the court, and he and Ryoma were both immediately greeted by the hugs of their teammates.

"Wow! Great match!" Kikumaru was bursting with excitement.

"You both have improved greatly. It looks like I need a lot of new data," Inui said, his notebook opened and a pen in his hand, writing who knows what in his notes.

Fuji chuckled lightly at Inui's typical behavior. Tezuka was simply nodding, but Fuji could've sworn that he saw a grin on his face.

After all the compliments from his former teammates, he returned his racket into his case and swung it over his shoulder. It felt great to be playing tennis again, and the match made him look forward to the US Open even more than he had beforehand. He saw Kikumaru waving goodbye to Oishi, who he had just been conversing with about something, and leaving. Fuji decided to go ahead and ask him about his stamina training now so he could get to work as soon as possible. He caught up to him and as he was leaving.

"Hey, Kikumaru," he started.

"Hey, Fuji. Great match today!"

"Thanks. I had a question and I thought you could help me."

"Yeah?"

"Well, I remember that before the nationals, you gained a huge boost in your stamina, and in the US Open I have to play first to three sets to six, and I'm only used to playing one. So, I'm not 

sure I have enough stamina and I was just wondering if you could help me train to get better since you got so much stamina suddenly."

"Sure. That sounds great. I'm glad I can help you get the title," Kikumaru replied cheerily.

"Okay, thanks. Well, see ya around, Eiji," Fuji said, waving and walking the opposite direction.

When Fuji got home, he went straight to his room. He set his tennis bag on the ground and flopped down on his bed, almost immediately falling asleep. He had dreams that seemed eerily blurred, fading in and out, of random tennis players without faces. When he awoke, it was still dark outside. He went over to his window and squinted out of it.

As he stared at the night sky, his thoughts were once again guided to what might happen at the US Open. The qualifiers were still five months away, which means he was leaving in about four and a half months. It seemed far away, but he also thought it would probably fly by and be time before he knew it.

He decided now was as good a time as any to reply. The deadline was less than two months away, and Fuji wasn't sure how long it would take for the letter to reach America. He knew it wouldn't take a month and a half, but he needed to do it soon, because he knew he would probably continue to procrastinate, and therefore wouldn't even be able to attend.

So he sat down at his desk, got out a pen and a piece of paper, and began writing his reply and saying that he would be glad to attend. A few times he had to get on the internet to remind himself what certain words were in English. He had been practicing recently, but still sometimes found it a little difficult. He had had five years of English at school, but it was such a difficult language that even practicing after all his learning didn't have him completely fluent, but he still knew enough to manage. He just needed a little help with more difficult words.

After he finished the letter, he read over it, and decided it was good. He put it in an envelope, and went downstairs to put it on the counter so that he remembered to mail it the next day. He then went back upstairs, and went back into his room. He made a mental note to call Eiji the next day, because he had just thought that they had not set up a time to start the endurance training. And, with that, he went back to sleep and had the same kind of dreams that he had before.

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. I know it wasn't very good, but I had writer's block, and I just wanted to get something written before I lost all inspiration for the story.


	9. The Training Program

_**Chapter 9: The Training Program**_

Fuji woke up the next day and looked at the clock. It was already 11 am. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. He remembered that he wanted to call Eiji today and set up the time and day for their first stamina training session. He knew it was late, but still felt extremely tired. He laid on his back and stayed like that for a while, completely comfortable, before finally lifting himself up and getting out of bed.

He picked up the phone, and dialed Eiji's number, listened to the ring three times, and then heard Eiji's voice.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Fuji. I noticed that we didn't set up a training time yesterday and figured we should go ahead and schedule one before I forgot."

"Oh, that's cool. Umm, I'm free most of this month. What about you?"

"I'm pretty much free as well, but I'm going to start a training program. So it'll be good to set up a certain day or days for stamina training. How about…Thursdays?"

"That sounds good. Like I said, I'm free most of the month," Eiji replied.

"Okay. I don't really have any specific time preference. You can choose the time."

"Well…I don't want to wake up too early," Eiji said laughing. "Noon would be good. Is that good with you?"

"Sounds good to me," Fuji replied cheerily.

"Cool. Well, I'll see you Thursday at noon, then."

"Okay, bye," Fuji said, hanging up the phone.

It was Tuesday, so Thursday was still a day and a half away. Like Fuji had told Eiji, he wanted to start a training program, and Thursday's was now stamina training day. So he needed to schedule other days for other specified training areas. He figured that he should probably try and develop a strong first serve, and he could use the Disappearing Serve as a surprising second serve to give himself an edge. His strongest serve at the moment, though, was rather weak. And who better to call for serving power than Inui, creator of the "Waterfall"? So, Fuji picked up the phone and dialed Inui's number.

"Hello?" Inui's voice answered after a ring.

"Hey, Inui. It's Fuji. I'm starting to plan out a training program, and I figured I could use a good powerful first serve. So, since you have a wicked serve, I was hoping you could help me with it."

"Of course I can. I'm glad I can help. So, when do you want to start?"

"Well, I can start as soon as possible. I want to basically set it to a certain day of the week so I can get serving training in once a week, and then set other days for other training. So, what days are you open?"

"Well, I'm tutoring people on Tuesdays, but that's the only day I'm busy."

"Okay…how about Wednesdays at noon?" Fuji suggested.

"That sounds good. I'll see you then," Inui replied.

"See ya," Fuji replied, hanging up the phone.

Okay, so now he had serving training on Wednesdays, and stamina training on Thursdays. What else did he need to work on? He didn't need any help on spin, because that had been what he had worked on ever since he was in preschool, and was the basis of his counters. Accuracy, however, was never anything he had worked on very much, and accuracy could be extremely helpful to tire opponents out. So, he decided he could set aside a day for accuracy training, where he could set up cans on the other side of the court and aim for them. He didn't have anything to do for the rest of the day, so he could do that on Tuesdays, also at noon.

So, with three days planned out so far, he got a shower and put on athletic shorts and a t-shirt. He found a bunch of empty tennis ball cans in his closet, and packed them into his tennis bag, along with his racket. He swung it over his shoulder, and left the house, heading towards the nearest park with tennis courts, which was only a few blocks away. As he walked, he tried to think of what he could do on other days to help him be as prepared as possible for the US Open.

A/N: Sorry for yet another short chapter. I promise the next one will be longer, as it is going to be his training over the next three days. Anyway, despite its short length, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	10. wow

A/N: Well, after like nine months of abandoning this story, I've started watching some random matches from PoT and remembered writing this story. So I read it over, and decided that I really wanted to continue it. I'm sorry that I abandoned it, and I will try to update consistently and finish.

_**Chapter 10: "…wow"**_

When Fuji arrived at the tennis courts near the school, he decided he'd work on the accuracy of his serves. It'd be difficult to work on the accuracy of his regular shots in anything but a match, since it's a different hitting a shot that you drop yourself than hitting a shot that is hit to you by an opponent.

So Fuji set up cans on all four corners inside each service box and walked to the other side of the court, just behind the baseline. He decided to serve to the deuce side first. So he focused on a can in one corner, and then threw the ball into the air, turning as it reached its peak and hitting it cross court into the service box, aiming for the can. He missed by quite a bit, hitting it deep into the center of the box.

He thought about it for a minute, and then pulled another tennis ball from his pocket. He once again focused on the can for a while before throwing the ball in the air, and serving it in that direction. This time he was considerably closer, the ball hitting the line about six inches from the can.

He thought about it again. He thought that maybe if he turned more and guided his racket straight toward the can, the ball would follow the same path. So he threw the ball into the air and pivoted a little more than usual, hitting the ball with his racket at the peak and guiding it straight at the can. This time, the ball went straight towards the can, but flew over it and landed out.

_So I just have to do that, except take a little bit of power off of it_, Fuji thought.

So he again got in stance, threw the ball in the air, pivoted, and hit it straight toward the can. Finally, it hit the ground just in front of the can, and bounced up, hitting the can in the process and knocking it over. Fuji grinned contentedly, and then got another ball, this time readying himself to aim for the other can at the other corner.

He threw the ball in the air, and hit it toward the can. It was a little off, landing on the ground a few inches away. He continued serving the balls at the cans for about thirty minutes, hitting each can about two or three times.

_Well, I guess that's enough for today. I've got the technique down, so I can start working on consistency next week._

So he gathered the cans into his bag, and was about to put his racket up when he saw two people playing in the court next to him. They were having a very intense rally, each of them hitting it with a lot of speed and accuracy. The rally lasted for about another thirty seconds when one of them turned and hit a drop shot. Fuji didn't think much of it until he saw it hit the ground and roll backwards without a bounce.

Then, as the player that hit the shot turned, he noticed that it was Tezuka. Fuji then decided to watch the rest of the match, and maybe, since he didn't get to play him last time since he was tired from playing Ryoma, he could ask him to play a match.

So Fuji took a seat on the bench next to the court and watched as the two continued to play. Tezuka seemed not to be playing at full force, since he wasn't using the Tezuka Zone. But he was hitting all of his shots with a lot more topspin than he used to put on his shots. Every shot he hit dipped at the last second, and bounced much higher than flat balls would, and his opponent had to stand about four or five feet behind where the ball hit the ground to get a good hit on it.

As the game ended, the two switched sides and it was Tezuka's turn to serve.

"Five to four, love all, first serve," he called out before serving the ball.

_This guy must be pretty good to be keeping up with Tezuka like that, even without him using Tezuka Zone_, Fuji thought.

Tezuka, however, decided to end the match with this game. His opponent hit a powerful shot into the corner opposite Tezuka, but it quickly took a sidespin and landed right in front of Tezuka, and Tezuka hit the shot with a powerful topspin strike, and it landed in front of his opponent, but bounced way up over his head, and the guy missed it completely.

Tezuka then fired two straight aces, and ended the game with a short point that ended in another Zero-Shiki Drop Shot. The two then met at the net and shook hands, saying a few things that Fuji couldn't hear, and then the other gay packed up and left as Tezuka took a seat on the bench next to Fuji.

"That was a good match, Tezuka. Who was that guy?" Fuji asked.

"Teni Bakuro. He was our high school's third seed singles player, but now that the second seed and I graduated, he's taking over at first seed. So I've been playing a few matches to help him get ready. What are you doing here?"

"I was practicing on getting my serve more accurate. It's part of my training program for the Open. So, I was wondering if you would want to play a match."

"Sure. I don't have much else to do," Tezuka replied.

So they stood, picked up about three tennis balls, and then met at the net.

"Which?" Fuji asked.

"Rough," Tezuka said.

Fuji spun his racket, and it landed on the ground upside down.

"It's rough," Fuji said.

"I'll take serve," Tezuka replied, pocketing two of the tennis balls, and walking to the baseline with the other in his hand.

Fuji stood a foot or two behind the baseline, ready to receive the serve. He watched as Tezuka threw the ball into the air, and slammed it downward into the service box. Fuji returned it, cutting it a little to negate some of the power on it. Tezuka then hit a shot with a ton of topspin on it. Fuji was a little confused, wondering if Tezuka was baiting his Iguru Gaeshi for a reason. He backed up to a few feet behind the ball, and got ready to hit his infamous first triple counter.

But as he swung at the ball with the slice, the ball dipped onto the racket before Fuji meant to hit it, and bounced of the racket lightly, landing about a foot behind Fuji. Fuji was extremely surprised.

"…wow," was all he could say.


End file.
